Omega Centauri. The stars of omega are mostly extremely old, and cooler than the sun. This, combined with reddening due to dust, should produce a general pastel orange appearance. To help you interpret the image, we have labelled several stars with their spectral types. We have chosen to represent the G0 star at 8 o'clock a pale yellow. A close look at the core shows many "blue stragglers". There are a smattering of brighter red giants most noticeable further out from the core. There is an edge-on galaxy toward top left of field. The cluster seems not to be a perfect ball, but seems to show fat fingers of stars radiating far outward.
Nine panel mosaic. Total exposure 12 hrs in 10 minute subs. Aspen CG16M on 20" PlaneWave. Full moon. Field 1.08 degrees wide, North up. 0.55 sec arc per pixel.
Log In: